


Sunshine

by TheMonsterGhost



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-08-30
Packaged: 2018-02-15 08:52:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2222991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMonsterGhost/pseuds/TheMonsterGhost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kevin and Daniel used to be close. Then Daniel took pictures of kittens and Kevin disappeared. Now Daniel is back to work and he's finally getting out all those pent-up frustrations. Namely on Cecil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sunshine

Cecil set his phone down on the desk just as the weather came to an end. He had an ear-to-ear smile on his face, leaning into his microphone with a honey-sweet voice. “Listeners,” he said, “While you were listening to the weather, guess who called? Carlos!”

Daniel was watching with cold, emotionless eyes. If he were less of a machine and more of a man, he’d have been grinding his teeth and snapping pencils in half. Instead, he turned red as coolant rushed through his cheeks, keeping his over-active mind from melting. There were warnings against “unnecessary actions” flashing in the corners of his vision. He dismissed those suggestions despite the unproductiveness of his thinking.

His memory banks were wide open, memories playing over one another and repeating infinitely. Thoughts of Desert Bluffs and Kevin and cats… repeating forever and ever.

“I’d better stop gushing,” Cecil chuckled, “I can hear Station Management thrashing in the other room. And Daniel is turning red, again.”

Daniel glared, his blue eyes glowing at Cecil from behind glass. “Hello, Daniel,” Cecil said, wiggling his fingers stiffly in sarcastic greeting. “The station hasn’t been the same without you.”

‘Get back to work,’ Daniel mouthed, pointing at Cecil’s microphone.

*********************************************************************************** 

“You’re going back to work, Daniel.”

“…When?”

“As soon as your observations are complete. Shouldn’t be long. How are you doing today?”

Daniel flexed his fingers and slowly stood up from his seated position. Instantly, he began to topple to the side. He caught himself on a wall, staring at his legs in disbelief.

“It’s alright,” muttered a scientist, writing furiously onto a clipboard, “A few minor functions need to be tested for malfunction before we can adjust them accordingly. Seems your balance is off. Sit down, Daniel, and we can fix it.”

As she worked, she told him to keep track of any malfunctions and report them as soon as possible. The sooner he was in working condition, the sooner he’d be back to work. Daniel wanted to go back to work. He felt restless doing simple tasks throughout the day. Challenging jobs demanded his expertise and his need for work satisfaction was in desperate need of attention.

“…Is Kevin here?” Daniel asked as the scientist closed the panel in his neck. She hesitated and he felt fearful. It was a rare emotion and he hated it. Fear. But her silence made him afraid. He spun around, slamming a hand down on the table like a child throwing a tantrum. “Where’s Kevin?!” he demanded.

“Calm down,” she warned him, wagging a pen in his face. “He’s… Kevin isn’t here. Don’t worry about him, we—“

“Where’s Lauren,” he asked flatly.

“She’s working, of course,” said the scientist, nodding to the ceiling. Lauren Mallard wasn’t someone who worked in the factories and labs; she had a nice desk with a comfortable chair in a room high enough to see the entire desert and beyond.

“Maybe she will know where Kevin is,” Daniel said, standing with care to not fall over. There were no problems until he tried to walk. He drifted sideways before getting his legs tangled. With a hiss, he hit the floor.

The scientist knelt to his side, jotting down notes and encouraging Daniel to turn onto his back. “Maybe. But that is unproductive for both you and Ms Mallard. I can’t condone worrying about it, Daniel. Worry about getting yourself in working order, first. Understood?”

Daniel stared at the ceiling. He nodded.

“Don’t look so sad,” the scientist said, “Remember to smile!”

After weeks of work and observations and notes and picking and prodding and ignoring Daniel’s requests to learn of Kevin’s whereabouts, the scientist beamed. She threw up her clipboard and said, “That’s it!”

“That’s it?” asked Daniel.

“You’re all done,” she said with a chipper hum, “We can finally start looking into a place for you to work. Aren’t you excited?”

“Yes,” Daniel replied.

“Is there anywhere you’d like to work, Daniel?” she asked.

“Radio,” responded Daniel. It was automatic. Something in him hoped that if he could work at the radio station, he’d see Kevin again.

The scientist kept smiling but her lips fumbled over words and she blinked rapidly, clearly puzzled. Considering that Daniel was someone who thrived off of work satisfaction, the scientist seemed doubtful that ‘radio’ would help him achieve his full productive potential. “I… I’ll see what I can do,” she said at last, putting down one final note on the side of her paper. She skirted around the android, murmuring, “We’ll be in touch.”

“Mm…” Daniel looked at his hands, stretching his fingers and enjoying the simplicity of the action. He was so much more than human. If he was broken, he could be fixed. If he went missing, he could be found. Unfortunately, Kevin was human. If he was broken, there was a chance he couldn’t be fixed. If he was missing, there was a chance he would never be found.

Daniel put his face in his hands and tried to adjust his thought process to focus on the possibility of work. Instead, the thoughts overlapped. Work and Kevin and all the unanswered questions he’d had for the last few weeks buzzed around his biomechanical brain. His face was burning by the time he realized he had company.

She cleared her throat purposefully and he snapped to attention.

“Looking a little red, there, Daniel!” Lauren chirped. Daniel was less than happy to see Lauren Mallard but he still smiled.

“Hello, Lauren,” he said mechanically.

“I heard you wanted to go back to working in radio?” she asked. Skipping straight to business. Daniel could appreciate that much. Efficiency was still the most important thing anyone could be if they wanted to be productive.

“Yes,” he replied.

“Well, lucky you,” she said, grinning a crooked smile. The way her lips curled and twitched as her smile turned into a broad sneer was like cracks forming in bone-dry earth. “We managed to convince those half-witted numbskulls—oh, dear, that’s a harsh way to put that, isn’t it? We managed to convince those… those…!”

She visibly fumed, biting her lip until blood burst between her teeth and trickled down her chin. Daniel watched with wide eyes as beads of red dripped from her person. With a sigh, she smiled again. “Since ownership of StrexCorp has been shifted to a resident of Night Vale, we were able to convince the management at the Night Vale Community Radio station to hire you. It took a **lot** of convincing. **A lot**. A few of our inside workers didn’t make it through the negotiations. There was… so much blood. But! What’s done is done. As long as StrexCorp is under Night Vale’s ownership, they no longer fear us… like they should…”

Daniel’s brows knotted together as he parsed the information. “You convinced them already?” he asked.

“Oh, ho ho,” she chuckled, “I have been planning this for weeks. After what they did to me…?! After having to walk back to Desert Bluffs in my best heels, which snapped halfway home I’ll add, and getting publically humiliated by a… a… _troublesome delinquent_ …”

“I see,” said Daniel.

“You’re going to fix this,” Lauren commanded, “Just like we fixed you. We’re going to fix that broken little town. And when we’re done breaking their little minds, we’ll fix those, too.”

“Yes,” said Daniel.

Lauren chuckled to herself, a dark and vengeful laugh. When she turned her gaze onto Daniel, she had returned to her usual chipper façade. She sang, “Good luck!” before hurrying back to her office.

When she was gone, Daniel recalled his previous time at NVCR. The coolant couldn’t keep him calm. He sparked and fumed until oil leaked from his mouth and his nose and his eyes. He didn’t want to go to Night Vale. He didn’t want to have to ever see Cecil Palmer again. He wanted Kevin back.

*********************************************************************************** 

“What’s really important,” Cecil announced, “is that Carlos is going to be fine. In fact, he’s going to be better than fine! He is coming _home_ , Night Vale!”

Daniel sparked as Cecil squirmed delightedly in his chair. That smile was nothing compared to Kevin’s. Who did he think he was? Daniel preferred Cecil to be miserable. That way, he wouldn’t have to see that pale comparison of a smile. He wouldn’t have to remember Kevin’s laugh or the way he’d squirm in his own seat with good news.

Of course, he could always lock those memories away. But that was the very last thing he wanted to do.

“He said that he has found another door. It is much bigger than the previous ones but still made of old oak. He says that it is locked tight but he’s going to find a way to open it and then he… He’s coming home! Carlos is coming home!”

As Cecil concluded the broadcast with some touching story about love and patience, Daniel thought about fighting against the blasphemous fates that Night Vale held so dear. To hell with stone tablets; what if Daniel fired Cecil on the spot? For being too personal on air. For drinking coffee near such delicate equipment. For anything and everything just as long as Daniel didn’t have to see Kevin’s stolen face every day.

After the broadcast came to an end and the lights went down, Cecil stretched and cracked his knuckles over his head. “Oh, Carlos,” he giggled, immediately texting his boyfriend. Daniel left the booth and entered the studio, closing the door behind him with a firm hand. The sound made Cecil jolt. “Ah…” he said, “It’s only you, Daniel.”

He stared, waiting for whatever Daniel had to say. But Daniel did little besides stare back. How could Kevin say that Cecil shared his eyes? Kevin’s eyes were so much deeper. They would send a chill through Daniel’s circuitry… Cecil did the opposite. His eyes made Daniel burn on the inside, seething with anger and loathing.

“So…” Cecil said, setting his phone aside and turning his chair to face the station’s producer. Daniel said nothing as Cecil grabbed for something to say. “You look… well,” Cecil decided, indicating the fact that Daniel was alive with a wave of his hand. He asked, “How are you adjusting to the station now that you’re back?”

“I can do without the pleasantries, Palmer,” replied Daniel.

Throwing up his hands, Cecil scoffed, “Alright! Not like I really give a damn anyway.”

“Watch your mouth, Palmer,” said Daniel, eyes narrowing.

“We’re not on air,” said Cecil. He went back to toying on his phone.

Daniel argued, “It doesn’t matter if we’re on air or not. When you are in this station you will refrain from using inappropriate language.”

With a spiteful grin, Cecil dropped his phone to his lap and leaned forward. Very deliberately and with perfect annunciation, he said, “Get. Fucked.”

The biomachine crossed the room with a powerful glower. He wanted to see Cecil shrink beneath him. Instead, Cecil stood from his chair and met Daniel half way, eyes just as sharp and intense.

“I am looking for reasons to fire you,” Daniel hissed. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t.”

A snappy retort. A fist in a collar. They argued vehemently. It became a blur after Daniel threw Cecil up against the door to the studio and pressed their mouths together in a biting, breathless kiss. Cecil snatched Daniel’s suit at his shoulders, twisting the fabric in hands as Daniel’s tongue traced a bloody bite on Cecil’s lip.

“I hate you, Palmer,” Daniel growled, tangling his fingers into Cecil’s hair and pulling tight. With a grunt, Cecil was forced to present his neck. “Maybe I should leave something for your boyfriend to find?” he said, ghosting his teeth over untouched skin.

Cecil chuckled darkly, allowing himself to shudder as Daniel moved over his throat. “I always told Carlos how much I would love to fuck you up,” he replied, “I’m sure he’d understand.”

“That so?” said Daniel, his temper boiling. The thought of Cecil talking about him outside of work both angered and amused him. “You can’t stop thinking about me? You have to fantasize about me to your lover?” he teased.

Cecil grunted again, this time out of frustration. He tried to fight the hand that kept his head tilted back but Daniel’s arm stayed perfectly still. He sank his teeth into skin, an area just behind and beneath Cecil’s ear.

The radio host gasped, fingers tightening on Daniel’s shoulders. “A-ah… you… nnn…” He turned his head to the side, sliding one hand to the back of Daniel’s neck and the other into his chestnut hair. He whimpered as Daniel left an expert mark, a bright and blossoming bruise to accompany the hammering pulse just beside it. “Are all biomachines like this or is it just you?” Cecil asked, leaning his weight against the door.

Daniel grinned at his breathlessness, tilting his chin up and pinching his cheek to make it seem like he was smiling back. “Actually,” said Daniel, ignoring the agitated glare Cecil gave him, “It’s just _you_.”

“Daniel,” Cecil muttered, batting away the hand on his face, “I think I need to speak with you in your office.”

“Delightful,” Daniel replied sarcastically. But he smirked all the same, letting his hand move across Cecil’s hip before reaching for the door. “I was just thinking the same thing.”

They clashed instantly once the office door was shut. Cecil threw himself onto Daniel who caught him like he was nothing more than a feather pillow. With Cecil’s legs wrapped around his waist, Daniel moved them to his desk. He dropped Cecil onto his papers, knocking everything else out of the way. Cecil pawed at his tie but he grabbed the radio host’s collar and used that grip to slam him back down.

The biomachine immediately followed, descending upon Cecil’s open mouth with a fervent tongue. He didn’t even taste like Kevin, which fueled his anger. Cecil was nothing like his darling Kevin; he didn’t deserve to wear his face.

Daniel had the half mind to rip it right off as he placed unkind bites along Cecil’s jawline. He bit down particularly hard when he felt Cecil’s erect cock press against his own. “You are so eager…” he growled, rolling his hips right back. Cecil tilted his head back, groaning with the friction. Daniel smirked, holding Cecil still by squeezing a thigh and setting a steady, grinding pace. “You must be so deprived.”

“Stop talking and take off your tie, already,” Cecil snapped, giving Daniel’s tie a sharp tug. The biomachine gave into the motion, allowing himself to be pulled closer to Cecil’s parted lips. He tucked a finger under the knot of his tie and loosened it while kissing Cecil breathless.

“Mmn,” the radio host moaned, digging his fingers through Daniel’s synthetic hair. There was a certain level of deprivation, he had to admit. However, there had always been an unspoken air of loathing between the two. Under StrexCorp management, with its strict professional protocols, nothing ever had the chance to erupt between them. Perhaps it was the fact that such strong emotions had been bottled up for so long that it unfolded the way it did on top of Daniel’s desk. Maybe they just needed to blow off that steam and leave it all behind. Maybe it was… something more.

But in that moment, there was no deeper meaning than getting each other to scream.

Daniel’s shirt came open but his sleeves only made it halfway down his arms before he was tearing Cecil’s apart. The radio host’s buttons went flying. With his shirt tossed aside, Daniel’s fingertips drew deep, red lines down his body. Each scratch had Cecil slowly arching off the desk, shuddering and moaning. Daniel smirked, enjoying the way the muscles in Cecil’s abdomen twitched whenever he dragged his fingers over them.

“Tell me you want this, Palmer,” Daniel said, tapping a finger over the zipper of Cecil’s pants.

Breathless, Cecil draped his arms around Daniel’s shoulders and let his hands rest in his unbelievably soft, brown hair. He murmured, “I… No, I…”

And Daniel tilted his head, slipping his hand lower and pressing his finger just beneath Cecil’s clothed cock. With a yelp, Cecil jolted, twisting his fingers in chestnut strands. “No?” asked Daniel, “You _don’t_ want this?”

With a frustrated groan, Cecil rolled his hips into Daniel’s hand. A deep, dark part of him wanted this, yes, but more than that, he _needed_ this. “No, I…! I want this. Please, Daniel. Please…”

Daniel unbuttoned Cecil’s pants and dipped his hand beneath his briefs. With a passionate cry, Cecil bucked into Daniel’s palm and dragged his nails down the biomachine’s shoulders. That touch was a match thrown onto a lake of gasoline. “Oh, yes!” he gasped, biting his lip and rocking his hips.

Bright, blue eyes sparked with interest. Cecil’s reactions were more than Daniel had anticipated. He was… excited. Elated. Aroused. Curious. His fingers stroked along the underside of Cecil’s twitching cock, working sounds he never expected to hear out from Cecil’s deliciously dark voice… Did he really just think that?

“Nng… sweet Masters of us all… Daniel…”

Biting kisses once again made their way down Cecil’s throat while Daniel pumped at Cecil’s prick. The thoughts of Kevin melted away as he focused on completing his new objective. There were many things that were annoyingly similar between the two radio hosts but… the voice moaning Daniel’s name at that moment was very much its own. There was no other voice like it; no other voice Daniel felt more accomplished for manipulating. To have Cecil clawing at his shoulders and begging him for more brought Daniel immense satisfaction.

“Come on, Palmer,” he hissed, using his free hand to pull Cecil into his chest by cradling his neck, “Come undone, you worthless slacker.”

Cecil threw his arms around Daniel, holding him tight and chuckling into his unbuttoned shirt. “Ah… aah…! Mmmnn…. Are you still going to fire me, Daniel? Ah ha ha, ahhh…!”

“Not yet,” Daniel replied. “I rather enjoy hearing you like this.”

Cecil’s eyes shut tight and his body went rigid. Daniel made quick, light strokes, swiping his thumb over the weeping cockhead. With a low groan, Cecil began to shiver, tightening his grip gradually until his voice cracked into a breathless cry and his hips jerked sharply. Daniel’s eyes flashed in shocked delight as Cecil spilled over his fingers, coming in bursts as he continued to drag out his orgasm. His hold on Cecil became the only thing keeping the man up as he went limp in Daniel’s arms, shuddering and sighing.

Daniel feigned disgust, for the most part, when he removed his hand from down Cecil’s pants. “You make me sick,” he said, cleaning himself with the tissues on his desk.

Cecil hummed contentedly.

“Get out of my office, Palmer,” Daniel commanded.

“You ripped my shirt,” stated Cecil, shooting the biomachine a disgruntled stare.

After a pause, Daniel offered his suit jacket. “Bring this back tomorrow. Clean.”

“Will do,” said Cecil. He had to force himself to not smile as he put it on.

“Get out.”

Cecil couldn’t hide the smirk on his face as he skipped from the room, closing the door a little too loudly behind him.

After making sure the footsteps had disappeared a safe distance down the hallway, Daniel locked his door and sank down into his office chair, eyes flickering shut. He had unfinished business to take care of.


End file.
